Failure Again

The other day I wondered if any Republican would be willing to distance themselves from the Limbaugh doctrine, aka "I want Obama to fail." Turns out there are is at least one. Here's Newt Gingrich wannabee Eric Cantor:

"And I don't — I don't think anyone wants anything to fail right now. We have such challenges. What we need to do is we need to put forth solutions to the problems that real families are facing today."

I'm willing to take Cantor at face value here. I think it's his intention to run a team that is more civil and constructive than some of his predecessors, although I'm not sure the kid can hit big league pitchin' and it will interesting to see if he gets recycled through the Limbaugh reeducation camp.

Meanwhile, Republican National Chairman Michael Steele wouldn't go that far, but he does seem a bit bent out of shape everybody is treating Limbaugh as the leader of the Republican Party when the real leader is, well, Michael ("I’m the de facto leader of the Republican Party") Steele. I feel his pain, and I can suggest one cadre of allies in his campaign to dis-mantle Rush. That cadre would be the other celebrities in the Republican noise machine. If I were Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity or Michael Savage or (whoever), I'd be feeling a bit underappreciated this morning: hey, I've been spilling venom and bile for years now, pay attention to me!

Update: Sure enough!

Update II: Not everyone impressed (but it does seem to have taken the heat off Cantor).